Thing is when I first got the Mac out of the box I thought it was really quiet, I am not sure if it has got louder as it's bedded in over the past few weeks, or maybe it is purely my imagination. I am sorry about this thread in a way I am just sharing my neurosis with everyone else here.

I had a fairly quiet Shuttle but the problem was it gave out a very quiet high pitched whine - the rest of the spectrum seemed fine, so I can understand how even a little noise can get to you in (ironically) a quiet environment.

I'm much happier with the iMac though I suppose the ideal would be to have all electrical equipment out away somewhere in a soundproof box.

Its only fair to say that even the iMac fans will get noisier over time as dust attaches to statically charged fan blades._________________iMac intel CoreDuo 17" 1Gb
WD My Book Premium fw320Gb x2
Logitech S530, iPod Nano 2Gb